Clashes erupt over migrant centre outside Rome

ROME — Clashes have broken out over the presence of a migrant
centre
in Rome's outskirts in the latest sign of increasing tensions over the influx of migrants in Italian cities.

The fascist Casapound movement was attending a municipal council meeting Wednesday over
neighbourhood
tensions caused by the presence of about 80 African migrants at a shelter. Casapound wants to close the
centre
.

Leftist activists, some carrying signs reading "Enough Racism," besieged the building where the meeting was supposed to have taken place, forcing it to be
cancelled
.

Police in anti-riot gear tried to keep the two groups apart, but at one point several leftists broke through police lines and clashed briefly with the Casapound militants.

Anti-immigrant sentiment is on the rise in much of Italy over the presence of migrants.